


Get me the hell off this thing

by inappropriatefangirlneeds



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Food, Hot Air Balloon, M/M, being ennobled, day outside the city, pure fluff, vacation day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:02:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25534045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inappropriatefangirlneeds/pseuds/inappropriatefangirlneeds
Summary: Inspired by the hot air balloons in the Gobblepot Gazette´s “Gobblepot Summer 2020” picture and Oswald Cobblepot´s less than pleasant experience with that blimp in 4x18. Will Oswald ascend into the air once more? Maybe if Jim Gordon asks nicely a penguin will fly.
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Jim Gordon
Comments: 14
Kudos: 17
Collections: Gobblepot Summer 2020





	Get me the hell off this thing

It was slow news season, the middle of the summer and peak holiday flair. That didn´t mean some people in the city didn´t have their hands full of work and trouble. An empire or even just one to be built didn´t allow for much rest and negligence.  
More trouble was the first thing Oswald had in mind when he saw the card on his table. A date, the following day to be precise, a time and a place outside the city, coordinates added. That was it. The only other thing on it was Jim´s signature, or so it wanted to appear. Three letters didn´t allow for much individual style in their writing, it certainly looked like Jim´s handwriting but it might as well not be. He hadn´t mentioned having planned anything recently. Oswald was quick to dial Jim´s number. There were a bunch of people that might want to lure him somewhere outside of Gotham. Oswald searched his mind for anyone he might forget and should be added on that list waiting for Jim to answer the call. 

_“Yes, that was me,”_ Jim reassured his partner.

He however refrained from revealing much more.

_“How is it going to be a surprise, if I spoil it now? Just come, it will be nice.”_

There was a short silence in between them before Jim added. _“Oh, I know you aren´t keen on driving, you can just have someone get you there, it´s about 5 minutes by foot then until you´ll see me, and I´ll drive you back in the evening._ ”

Oswald would have preferred more information but he had to admit Jim got him curious. Jim´s company, even with some mystery activity, sure sounded better than the plans he has had for the following day. That issue couldn´t get much worse, would he postpone solving it a bit, could it. 

Oswald took the risk. The next day he got out of the car the exact time the card had said and sent his driver back. There was a path that lead to a pasture surrounded by a small forest. Jim wasn´t to be seen. Oswald was ready to cursed him if he would have to walk any bit longer than those five minutes. A lighter curse was aimed at his choice of clothing. The sun wasn´t even at its highest and yet the temperature was bordering on unbearable. The trees next to the path didn´t throw any shade on it. Some sweat beads were already forming on his forehead. Oswald wiped them away with the sleeve of his suit. He figured he wasn´t dependent on nature for shade, he carried his own. After having opened his umbrella Oswald continued on his way. On the bright side of things the air was much better out here. He loved the city but it could become quite stuffy during summer.

When Oswald reached the spot where the trees stopped he saw it: Red, green, blue, yellow … huge and colourful. There was a balloon hovering over the grass, beneath it was a basket that looked tiny in comparison, with Jim leaning against it. He waved when he saw Oswald, who just stepped off the path into the grass and kept walking.

_“Now, what is this, Jim?”_

_“Hello Oswald,”_ Jim paused for a second. _“Do you remember that time you were stuck in the blimp?”_

 _“How could I forget that,...”_ sarcasm dripped out of Oswald´s voice and his eyes rolled back ever so slightly. They had let him circle over the city with that fragile thing full of poison for ages. _" ... the memory is quite vivid, and it keeps getting brighter, or dare I say more colorful."_

_“I know it took some time to get you out of there, I wanted to make up for it.”_

_“By putting me in in a similar thing, for even longer?!”_

_“By showing you that it can be nice as well … a change of perspective so to speak.”_

Oswald didn´t exactly look convinced but he didn´t protest either.

_“The initial plan was to fly over the city, have you look down on what you saved that day but turns out, it´s not safe to fly a balloon over Gotham. They hinted that it might be safer if my wallet is lighter but you know what the GCPD pays. And I figured with all the stress you had recently you might enjoy some time outside the city.”_

_“So today we´re going to stare down at a lot of trees, grass and rocks”_

_“It´s pretty trees, nice fields and impressive mountains … and,_ ” Jim offered _“you don’t have to steer that one.”_

Oswald face could be described as skeptical at best. _“I´m assuming this thing doesn´t have on-board service or toilets”_

Jim lifted a smaller basket out of the big one that would carry them. _“Food and drinks I have, but I´m afraid sanitation won´t be available.”_

After Oswald had excused himself for a moment he did step into the basket, still not quite free of a little frown on his face.

He watched how Jim handled the fuel tanks, going through everything, checking bits and pieces before he loosened what kept them steady on the ground. Then Jim opened the valve and a flame shot up high into the balloon. Hearing the roar of the burner Oswald gripped the edge of the basked. He held on tight once the first jolts shook his balance. At first it looked like they didn´t rise much, it seemed almost as if you could just step out of the basket but suddenly the ground didn´t look all that close anymore. Oswald got a bit of a queasy feeling watching everything turn smaller and smaller at an increasing speed.

Soon the trees looked tiny, barely more than toys. High up and looking down on the ground Oswald remembered that moment on the edge of the rooftop after he watched Fish fall into the black water. He had felt so powerful, truly like the king of Gotham. No thought was wasted about being barely a step away from death himself, that moment he had truly believed he could do anything and show them all. He had been on top, on top of his city.

Crowning Gotham he could not have risen higher. Oswald had reveled in having nothing but the sky above and everything beneath him. Yet the height he faced currently instilled some respect in him, although there was no toxin to worry about. Every now and then the burner roared and shot up a short flame. The basket kept quite steady and Oswald slowly adjusted to the unfamiliar sensation, it was a bit like floating, a vague feeling of movement but still as if you stood on static ground at the same time. Oswald stopped to look down, lifted his gaze from the ground and let his eyes wander over the landscape. The land stretched far to the horizon.

Jim drew him into a hug: _“I´m glad you’re here.”_

Oswald´s knees felt soft for a whole different reason than the height when Jim placed a kiss on his lips. He returned it with enthusiasm.

After they separated some worry returned. _“You´re not getting distracted from…”_ Oswald gestured at the apparatus.

_“No, we should be fine for a while, I´m keeping an eye on it. But look at that view.”_

Jim was right; the countryside looked stunning in the light of the sun. Gotham seemed to be so far away. A dark spot, somewhere at the edge. His dark spot nevertheless. Oswald leaned back against Jim and just enjoyed the moment for a while.

_“Have you been out here a lot?”_

_“No, not really.”_

There had been no vacation home to drive to in the summer, no wealthy relatives that invited them to their ranch, no father to take him along to the hunting lodge. Sometimes his mother had gushed about the lake, talked about taking him swimming there, crystal clear water and just happy people around. They never went. Oswald couldn´t say he really missed any of that, he´d always felt most comfortable surrounded by the buzz of the city.

Jim pointed to their left. _“That´s Starling Peak, it´s the one I´ve been on the most.”_

_“Ah, you´re a mountaineer as well, conquering summits, climbing up cliffs and rocks...”_

_“Nah, there´s no climbing needed, you can just hike up there. It´s actually a really easy path but has a great view, maybe we can do that one some time. I can´t even remember the last time I… ”_

_“Off the top of my head I can think of at least a thousand things I´d rather be doing.”_

_“If not at least 900 of them are giving me a kiss I´m disappointed.”_

Jim´s fake frown had him chuckle. _“Not just a kiss, Jim, your lack of creativity is concerning.”_

 _“I haven´t heard all that much complaints so far,”_ Jim leaned closer. _“But if there´s anything specific you´d want to spice things up with, I guess we got all the privacy to discuss that.”_

_“Pepper, salt, paprika … you said something about food.”_

Jim lingered a bit longer in Oswald´s space before he fetched the basket. It carried a whole picnic. Oswald was pleased to see an array of savoury and sweet goods. Maybe it was the view, maybe the air but he could swear he never had a croissant tasting that good.

Meanwhile Jim made sure they kept the right height and direction. When they crossed the river Oswald poured himself a second glass of wine. Even Jim had one, but just one. _“People down there are going to wonder if we´re flying zigzag…_ ”

The air was fresh, a light breeze made the heat quite bearable up here. Oswald took a moment to appreciate that he was seeing Jim out of his usual suits. As good as those looked on Jim, the informal attire was a nice change. Maybe he should consider getting out of the city once or twice, if it meant seeing Jim like that. Then again he just looked stunning in everything. Oswald remembered the leather jacket Jim had been wearing playing bounty hunter after the Indian Hill shenanigans and wondered if he still had that one. He made a mental note to get back to that spice conversation some time.

Jim took the empty glass off Oswald. Snuggling against his back he wrapped his arms around the smaller man and they just watched the trees pass under them. Jim pointed out a few more spots and landmarks and Oswald noticed how little he actually knew of the surroundings of his city. He was familiar, with all the streets and corners, even those the average citizen just walked by not even noticing but out here was different.

“ _The field over there, right between the farm and that cluster of trees ... see, right there, that´s where we´re going to land, if the winds agree… “_

_“Wait what? What if they don´t?”_

_“I guess we just got to keep going … forever and ever, wherever they carry us.”_

_“Jim, I´m going to stab the both of you, you and Aeolus myself if we´re crash landing or anything.”_

_“Don´t worry, it will be just fine.”_

Jim should be proven right. The landing was smooth. To Oswald it had looked as if they were heading right into the trees next to the open spot but Jim got them down far from them.

Back on the ground Jim shut off everything that needed to be shut off and fetched a small bottle of champagne. After quickly opening it he shook it lightly with his thumb over the top. Before Oswald could react some of the champagne was sprayed right at him.

_“Hey, what was that for?!”_

Ignoring the complaint Jim proclaimed with plenty of pathos in his voice: _„I declare you the first penguin to conquer the sky. Raised to new heights you may now carry the title Oswald, courageous Earl of Air, feathery saviour of the life beneath.”_

Oswald didn´t need to voice the “What the hell?”, his face did it for him.

 _„That´s the baptism. Everyone has to do it their first time and then you are part of ballooning aristocracy,”_ Jim explained. _“It is said that Louis XVI was so impressed by the first hot air balloons that he raised those who built it to aristocracy. That, or he made a law that only royalty was allowed to drive them, or who knows, it´s certainly a pretty serious tradition now.”_

 _“Silly, would fit better,”_ Oswald interjected, fussing about the wet spots on his suit jacket. 

_„Another way to do this is to put a strand of hair on fire and extinguish it with the champagne immediately, but you know I don´t exactly want to die_.”

_“That´s why you took us miles up into the air.”_

_“Hey, it was a smooth ride wasn´t it.”_

_“It was, and quite enjoyable,”_ Oswald had to admit, while he dried his face with a handkerchief.

_„Do I get to drench you in alcohol now too?”_

_“Nope, wasn´t my first ride. But I got the whole thing done too when I took the lessons to be able to pilot this thing.”_

_“What´s your title then?”_

_“Oh, I´m not going to tell you that.”_

There was a hint of embarrassment in Jim´s features along with just a tiny bit of cringing. Oswald´s mind started calculating. He doubted that balloons had been part of Jim´s military training. There couldn´t be that many people in and around Gotham doing hot air balloon rides. They would surely remember Jim, how could you not. It couldn´t be overly difficult to find that one out.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think!
> 
> What could be Jim´s silly title of hot air balloon royalty .... ?


End file.
